'Islam the Modern Middle East' will be discussed during Christwood community education series

Christwood is hosting a seminar on “Islam and the Modern Middle East” on Oct. 17-19 in the Garden Room at Christwood. Presenter is James Wiggins, Professor of History at Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Mendenhall, Miss.

“My educational background is actually modern European history, but a decade or so ago, I took a dive into the best contemporary scholarly literature on Islam and the modern Middle East. The seminar will be based on that, and so, will be a conscious attempt to quell the, at times, hysterical, and usually superficial coverage offered up by the American news media," Wiggins said.

The sessions will be presented Oct. 17, 11 a.m. to noon; Oct. 18, 10 to 11a.m.; Oct. 19, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. A light lunch will be served on Oct. 19. Please make reservations before Oct. 10 by calling Christwood at 985.898.0515.

“In the first session I will speak on basic theology, as well as Islam’s relationship to Judaism and Christianity, the distinction between Sunni and Shia, the doctrine of jihad, and teachings on the role of women, all of which are certainly relevant to the present," Wiggins explained. “Then, I will spend the remaining three sessions talking about the origins and history of the 'Modern Middle East'in the decades from World War I to the present, along the way finding out how modern Israel came to be and why that has been a problem for Arabs and Muslims in general. How Sunni and Shia in Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon got thrown together in haphazard ways by boundary-drawing European imperialists in the 1920’s, how the rivalry of Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran has played out, how Turkey became secular, how the 'salafist' Muslim Brotherhood was born (in Egypt, in the 1920’s), and much more.”

Christwood is located at 100 Christwood Blvd., Covington, just off Highway 21 south of Interstate 12.

The information for this posting was provided by Christwood Retirement Community.